1st Circ. Limits Appeals Of Denial Of Automatic Stay Relief

By Stewart Bishop

Law360, New York (August 04, 2014, 8:50 PM ET) -- The First Circuit on Monday refused to rule that all orders denying stay relief in bankruptcy litigation are final and appealable regardless of circumstances, finding it lacks jurisdiction to hear a dispute between two information technology companies it described as “bare-knuckle brawlers.”

In a split opinion, a panel for the appeals court split from other circuits, which have found that the denial of relief from the automatic stay in bankruptcy is like a permanent injunction and is thus a final order, something the panel deemed a...